"Speedy" Daily Mass

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Past parish had 7 AM Mass
MOstly 9 am now.

Current parish has noon daily Mass.
 
If we’re being completely honest here, everyone i’ve talked to wants mass to be done as soon as possible, which means LESS than an hour on Sundays and I can only assume how quick Daily.
 
Jamie5 said:
If we’re being completely honest here, everyone i’ve talked to wants mass to be done as soon as possible, which means LESS than an hour on Sundays and I can only assume how quick Daily.
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Speed and piety are NOT corollaries.

If they were, we’d be in for a few surprises.

The monistary about 3 hours from me has an under 20 minutes Low Mass (IE TLM) during the week, mostly to get the Monks Mass so they can get on with their work duties. Plus they do LOTH and so they have a pretty full schedule.

The old-as-Moses priest at a parish nearby can’t complete a Mass in less than 40–even a Daily Mass.

The issue, I think, with long weekend Masses
  1. are typically about Music (from Gregorian to piano) being turned into concert pieces and taking WAY TOO LONG
  2. because the pastor is a poor preacher and gives garbly meandering homilies
  3. excruciatingly long petitions that go on and on and on
  4. disorganized alter and the scramble to get everything ready for the Liturgy of the Eucharist
  5. announcements after Mass
I’ve been to masses that stretch well over an hour and have been WONDERFUL. I’ve been to masses that lasted 45 minutes and DRAGGED by. It wasn’t in my mood but in how Mass was handled by the Priest and laity.

Quick Masses are FINE. It’s a Mass. It’s not like a Netflix show where you pay for 30 minutes so you darn well better GET a 30 minute Mass.

Sometimes speed makes the difference in being able to attend. Like I stated. I could SO do a 15 minute Mass with my toddler and autistic niece. I could NOT do that by myself for 30 minutes. Someone would find a way to injure themselves.

But it does not indicate piety. My faith is no less passionate than the old man who could attend 3 hour masses each day.
 
A Mass that is said with a natural flow is a quality Mass. The Mass is the perfect prayer, and to have the Mass move along naturally is good, not bad. That means the prayers are said in a natural cadence. This results in what everyone calls a fast Mass. I call it a quality Mass. It is much, much more reverent than a Mass that is drug out and made much longer than necessary. Saying the prayers of the Mass in a very slow, boring manner is not good. Stopping to sing yet another song, including all four verses, is not good. Making the Mass longer doesn’t somehow make it holier. When our youth are taught to pray the Mass, and the Mass moves along at a normal pace, they can better experience the importance of the Mass. But when our youth have to be there for a long, drawn out Mass, that is when they complain that Mass is boring and don’t want to come back.
 
If it was liturgically correct and the words of consecration were there, it was a valid mass. The opportunity for reverent worship might have been strained, but in receiving the Body, Blood, Soul and divinity of our Lord, you went away well. Consider that the alternative may have been a cancelled mass.
 
I once went to Mass at an airport (in Chicago, I think). The priest was specially trained, and the chapel was specially set up, so that Mass could be said very quickly but without any real rush. The priest never had to walk more than a few steps in any direction, so movement didn’t take any extra time.The homily was only a few sentences long, but they were deep and to the point. Communion didn’t take very long, because we were all sitting so close to the altar that we didn’t have to move very far, either. It was quieter and more meditative than most Masses at my home parish! The only thing I missed were hymns.

I don’t think that Mass lasted even ten minutes! But it didn’t seem “fast” at all.

So I have no problem with a short Mass done properly.
 
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Daily Masses are at 7, 8, 12, and 5… so you can get the before work, lunch time, and after work crowds. Downtown location…
Of course most parishes can’t realistically offer 4 daily Masses…but this is the cathedral.
My home town parish only offers a 9 AM Mass…and not at all on Saturday (other than the anticipated Sunday Mass in the evening), nor even on Mondays if I recall correctly. This means that daily Mass is basically only an option for the retirees.
 
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twf said:
Daily Masses are at 7, 8, 12, and 5… so you can get the before work, lunch time, and after work crowds. Downtown location…
Of course most parishes can’t realistically offer 4 daily Masses…but this is the cathedral.
My home town parish only offers a 9 AM Mass…and not at all on Saturday (other than the anticipated Sunday Mass in the evening), nor even on Mondays if I recall correctly. This means that daily Mass is basically only an option for the retirees.
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That’s too bad. There are very few 9am masses around here–most over 45 minutes away, which would be nice as a mom who stays at home and works freelance. Daily Masses around here are between 6:30 and 8am, which is just too early to be ready with toddlers.

There are some noon masses but they are not regular and they are up in the bigger city (45 mins) anyway.
 
Mass this evening was twenty minutes. Shortest I’ve ever attended.
 
Good question. Twice here in Ireland I have known mass be over in 10 minutes. appalling
 
pianistclare said:
This is the “thing” in Ireland. My husband jokes that when they got a new priest they decided on his “coolness” by the relative lightening speed of his Mass.
Of course, DH was a clueless little punk at the time,rofl:🤣🤣🤣

But seriously, the Irish tend to pray FAST. First time I ever prayed the rosary with his father, I was astounded, He would start the "Holy Mary Mother of God part before I’d finished the first part of the Hail Mary.

Same with the Creed in Mass.
Go figure.
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When I was in the monastery, a few of us went up to the mountains for a retreat for a week. The only place to go to daily mass was at the home of a retired priest in a small town about ten miles from our “retreat house” (it was just a tiny cabin).

His “chapel” was a tiny room in the house, probably supposed to be a bedroom, but a twin bed would have been a tight fit.

That lovely old priest was Irish, and he could get through the entire mass – including vesting, a homily, and an opening and closing hymn – in under 15 minutes. He pulled on his vestments while leading us in the hymn “Come, Holy Ghost.” His homily was just one pithy sentence reflecting on the gospel.

At the end of mass, he led us in singing “Holy God, We Praise Thy Name” as he removed his vestments.

On the car ride back to our cabin, one of the sisters said about this priest, “Well, he’s Irish – they always pray fast so the devil can’t get a word in edgewise.”

🤣 🤣 🤣
 
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